Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

Son’s fatal overdose serves as cautionary tale

LANCASTER – Five hours after Jeremy Moore graduated from a rehab program in Columbus, he returned home to Lancaster and immediately fell back into the habit.

He shot himself up with heroin and left his father’s house after an argument. Police found him hours later lying in a neighbor’s front yard a few blocks away.

“Evidently, one of the neighbors called the cops because they thought he was acting funny,” said Thomas Moore, Jeremy’s father. “(Jeremy) was actually passed out in their yard. He would have froze to death, and they took him to jail.”

A week after graduating from rehab, Jeremy, 35, was released from jail and died of a heroin overdose that day, March 5.

“He came home with me again and said he had to go to the bathroom, and I didn’t think too much about it at first, but then he didn’t come out, and he didn’t come out,” Thomas said. “I yelled at him and said, ‘Are you OK?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’”

About 20 minutes passed, and Thomas still hadn’t seen Jeremy.

“I thought, ‘Something’s not right here.’ ... I yelled and yelled then banged on the bathroom door,” Thomas said. “When he didn’t answer, I started getting worried and tried breaking in and got a crowbar, but I couldn’t get in.”

Thomas, 69, called 911 and met a Lancaster Police Department officer in the driveway and led him to the bathroom to break down the door.

“He was laying on the floor with his head against the bathtub. ... Six heartbeats was all he had,” Thomas said.

Medics attempted to revive Jeremy and took him to the hospital, but first responders told Thomas that Jeremy was “technically already dead.”

Almost immediately, Thomas said he knew he needed to tell his son’s story. Thomas posted a sign on his maroon pickup truck and had business cards made saying “Drugs killed my son. Are you next? I hope not. Say no to drugs!”

“I’m getting a lot of comments and feedback from people about it,” Thomas said. “They thought it was great that I do something like that, because most people, if their kid gets high on drugs, they don’t want people to know it. And I’m broadcasting it any way I can, everywhere I can.”

Thomas said he is mad that his son died, and thought Jeremy had only passed out in the bathroom, not taken a fatal dose. But, of course, he said he knew the real danger of heroin and opioid use.

“They say that when they go to rehab and they get out, that first week is the crucial time,” he said. “Because they will go back to what they were doing before and the same amount of drugs they were taking before they went in. And the body can’t handle it, and it will kill you. I think that’s what happened to Jeremy.”

This also wasn’t the first time Thomas knew his son had a problem. Jeremy had struggled with drug use for about eight years, starting when his mother died in 2006.

Jeremy had also been arrested multiple times for abusing drugs, and Thomas said he watched his son’s personality change.

“He was a good kid, but he changed when he started using drugs,” Thomas said, adding that there were multiple times he knew his son had stolen valuable items from him to pay for his habit.

In addition to Thomas, who said Jeremy was his only family, Jeremy left behind his estranged wife and three children. However, Jeremy lost custody of the children because of his drug use, Thomas said.

Now that Jeremy is gone, Thomas said he knows his mission is to tell his story and advertise the local drug problem.

“If it saves one person’s life it’s well worth the money I’ve spent for the cards and the signs,” Thomas said. “I don’t worry about the money. Of course I wish I could bring (Jeremy) back but I can’t.”

sroush@lancaster

eaglegazette.com

740-681-4342

Twitter: @SpencerRoushLEG

Where to get help

If you are struggling with drugs or alcohol, here’s where you can get help:

•
For information and referrals, call Fairfield County 211. Operators will assist anyone seeking treatment and detox options, counseling, narcotics and alcohol anonymous group sessions, and any other referrals based on the caller’s needs.